Radiographic record and film identification assembly

ABSTRACT

A detachably-connected radiographic record and film identification assembly including a first sheet of material which can be readily marked with pencil or pen or typerwriter, a second sheet of material capable of being readily-deformable and which is relatively opaque to X-ray radiation and a pressure-activated transfer medium for transfering the pen, pencil or typewriter markings from the first sheet and the second sheet in correspondence with the markings applied to the first sheet to still another sheet disposed beneath the pressure-activated transfer medium. Adhesive means disposed on the sheets of material provide a convenient means for securing the sheets to another surface, such as X-ray film.

United States Patent Jackson Nov. 4, 1975 Primary ExaminerJames W. Lawrence Assistant Examiner-D. C. Nelms Attorney, Agent, or FirmBen E. Lofstedt [76] Inventor: Dwight S. Jackson, 6035 N.

lbbetson Ave., Lakewood, Calif. 907 3 [57] ABSTRACT A detachably-connected radiographic record and film [22] Flled' 1974 identification assembly including a first sheet of mate- [2l] Appl. No.: 453,648 rial which can be readily marked with pencil or pen or typerwriter, a second sheet of material capable of 52 us. Cl. 250/476 beng l i g 51 Im. 01. G03B 41/16 f f f f rans er me mm or rans ermg e pen, penci or [58] Field of Search 250/476 typewriter markings from the first Sheet and the 0nd sheet in correspondence with the markings ap- [56] References Clted plied to the first sheet to still another sheet disposed UNITED STATES PATENTS beneath the pressure-activated transfer medium. Ad- 2,162,420 6/1939 Buckley 250/476 hesive means disposed on the sheets of material pro- 2426286 8/197 Stadler 250/476 vide a convenient means for securing the sheets to an- 3,63l,243 12/1971 Byler et al. 250/476 other surface Such as X fi 3,790,802 2/l974 Mika et al 250/476 7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures HISTORY I 3 I 50 d l 7 T 5 U.S. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 3,917,952

FIG.+

H ISTORY RADIOGRAPHIC RECORD AND FILM IDENTIFICATION ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Over the years, medical Xray technology has advanced with many changes occurring in this field. Many of these changes have been centered around improved X-ray radiation generator design, combining greater energy, shorter exposure settings or times, improved beam focusing and greater machine efficiency. However, X-ray records and film identification materials and methods have not kept pace with the advances achieved in medical X-ray technology. In fact, means i for identifying exposed X-ray films and plates taken of various parts of human and animal bodies, for instance, have made no significant advances in the past someodd years.

The means for marking the X-ray film generally comprises the use of a lightweight, metallic base plate which is relatively transparent to X-ray radiation, such as aluminum, upon which premolded lead identification characters are temporarily arranged and bonded. The combination of the base plate and identification characters are then generally placed in a shallow film tray on top of the film to be marked prior to exposure of the film. The characters formed are typically of the alpha-numeric variety and are arranged to form words and values to correspond to the part and its location in the body of the subject to be X-rayed. As a matter of fact, this identification is now required in most areas of the country and is widely used in medical X-ray facilities throughout the world.

The above prior art device has been characterized as bulky and unsightly. Further, they do not provide very distinct film identifying characters. In addition, due to their construction, these markers are easily damaged in ordinary use, and even more so, for example, when accidentally dropped onto the floor. This method is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,804.

A similar, but modified, X-ray film marking device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,619,61 1. However, such fixed indicia are expensive and are of limited value because it is limited in so far as it is only capable of imparting a limited amount of information onto the film.

Another method of providing means for identifying and placing informative data upon X-ray film at the time of exposure to X-rays, is typically found and illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,912,464; 2,162,420 and 2,939,958. This method is characterized by embossing, or otherwise thinning, or removing, easily deformable, relatively X-ray opaque material, such as lead, by means of a stencil (pointed pin) or a typewriter having special type. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,912,464, special type called pin type or light face type is used. Pin type is made up of a series of small points of metal; light face type is characterized by continuous, narrow faces or sharp edges. The X-ray opaque material is struck with the special type and displaces the material to produce thin or perforated areas in the form of characters, or indicia, through which the X-rays will penetrate and thereby expose the film thereunder. However, this method requires the use of special type not found in a standard typewriter and is not suitable for other purposes for which a typewriter is useful.

The plaque of U.S. Pat. No. 2,162,420 involves the removal of relatively deformable, X-ray opaque mate- 2 rial from a relatively undeformable base plate material which is transparent to X-rays. Such a rigid composite structure requires the use of a special stylus for forming indicia thereon. The stylus removes the X-ray opaque material from the base plate for forming indicia which can be recorded on the X-ray film.

The prior art fails to provide or disclose any means for simultaneously providing both X-ray film identification and a separate record for other files. Other files, typically of the paper variety, are indispensibly necessary to conveniently store X-ray film data in areas typically remote from the special photographic film file and storage area and are frequently used for cross-referenc ing purposes and to complete working-file histories.

A further disadvantage is presented when special stencils or special typewriter type must be used to create indicia on the deformable X-ray opaque material used in conjunction with the X-ray film identification process.

A still further disadvantage in using deformable, X-ray opaque materials without a supplementary cover sheet is that the stencil or typewriter type, either of the special type discussed in the patents supra or of the standard, office-type variety, will frequently cut or tear these materials. Such cuts or tears add unwanted im pressions to the X-ray film during the film developing or exposure process.

In addition, many of the items found in the prior art are relatively expensive. For example, some methods require the use of laminate structures; while others require the use of special equipment.

Consequently, none of the prior art items have been found to be sufficiently satisfactory to be accepted as a universal standard for use with radiographic film.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a simple and inexpensive means for permanently identifying radiographic film with data and signature information while simultaneously providing a copy thereof. It fundamentally comprises a sheet of material which can be readily marked with pencil or pen or a typewriter, a sheet of easily deformable material relatively opaque to X-rays and detachably-connected to the other sheet, and a sheet composed of a pressure-activated transfer medium such as carbon paper disposed beneath the first and second sheets for transfering data or signature information impressed on first and second sheets to still another sheet disposed beneath the pressure-activated transfer medium. In addition, the sheets may employ strips of adhesive material about the borders thereof to provide a convenient means for mounting the sheets to another surface, such as the X-ray film.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an X-ray film marker that is not subject to the disadvantages of the prior art enumerated above.

It is another object of the invention to provide an X-ray film marker that provides a greater amount of data to be permanently recorded on the film and occupying less space on the film than that found in the prior art.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a means for simultaneously recording data on a sheet of paper and on the sheet of material relatively opaque to X-ray radiation using an ballpen, pencil, pen or office (standard) typewriter.

Although this invention is described with particularity in the appended claims, a more complete under- 3 standing of the invention may be obtained from the following detailed description of specific embodiments of this invention when taken in conjunction with the appended drawings wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is an edge view, taken in cross section, of one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary section of the embodiment shown and illustrated in FIG. 1 of the present invention and depicting the deformation produced by a pen, pencil, typewriter or other embossing means.

FIG. 3 is an edge view of the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. taken along plane 33.

FIG. 4 is a view of the present invention depicting the hinged, detachable, interconnection therebetween.

FIG. 5 is another embodiment of the present invention illustrating another type of detachably, interconnected assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With reference to FIG. 1, an embodiment of the present invention which I prefer to call a radiographic film record and identification assembly, generally indicated at 10, and comprises a top or first sheet 11 of material suitable for marking thereon by means of a pen or pencil or typewriter, a second sheet 12 of material which is readily deformable and relatively opaque to X-ray radiation, adhesive means 13 bonded to the second sheet of material 12 and a pressureactivated transfer medium 14 disposed beneath the second sheet 12 for transferring the pen, pencil or typewriter markings from the first and second sheets ll, 12 to still another sheet 15 disposed beneath the pressure-activated transfer medium 14.

The first sheet 11 is typically formed from paper of the character necessary for accepting written or typewritten impressions thereon. Paper is frequently used because it is conveniently available and takes a printed or written impression easily. Further, paper is sufficiently flexible to permit transferance of the pressure applied to it by the writing instruments and it is this pressure which is necessary to deform the second sheet of material 12 disposed therebeneath.

Another essential function performed by the first sheet 11 is that it protects the second sheet 12 disposed therebeneath so as to prevent ripping or tearing of the second sheet 12. In the event that a rip or tear should occur in the X-ray opaque material forming the second sheet 12, such a tear or rip would appear on the exposed X-ray film along with the deliberately impressed indicia thereon. Not only would it appear thereon, but the torn portion would produce a darker image on the film than that produced by the embossed indicia. This obviously is highly undesirable since it not only tends to create markings which are confusing but it would tend to block out, or otherwise interfere with, the imprinted or embossed characters appearing thereon, such as the alpha-numeric characters typically used for this purpose. In addition, the second sheet 12 is generally composed of material which, if separated, will continue to tear until it reaches the edge of the material. As a result, the first sheet 11 is very necessary to the functional composition of the present invention.

However, it should be noted at this time that the use of paper is not essential and any similar sheet material capable of being easily marked upon is suitable for this 4 purpose, such as a sheet of roughened polyethylene plastic or the like.

The second sheet 12 is typically and conveniently formed of a thin sheet of lead. While industrial or commercial applications of the present invention will generally require the use of an X-ray opaque material sheet 12 with a substantially greater thickness, for most medical purposes, I have discovered that the lead sheet should have a thickness of from one to two thousandths of an inch thickness. With this thickness, the lead may be readily and sufficiently embossed to thin out the de' pression in the bottom of the deformed area thereby reducing the thickness of the sheet 12. Since the X- radiation is generally applied perpendicular to the plane of the assembly 10, a greater amount of X-ray energy is permitted to pass therethrough producing a darkened impression on the developed X-ray photographic negative which is surrounded by a light area representing the rest of the lead sheet material 12.

Obviously, numerous other materials other than lead may be used to form the second sheet 12, such as, for example, finely divided metals of high atomic numbers: namely, lead oxides such as trioxide or lead monoxide, or any suitable chemical compounds such as barium sulfate, or on the whole, substances adapted to arrest X-rays to a higher degree than the material of which the first sheet 11 is formed. Of course, to be a suitable material for this purpose, the material must also be easily deformable so as to flow laterally or become thinned during the embossing operation in a manner similar to lead.

The second material 12 may be bonded to the first sheet 11 by means of a suitable glue, it being also possible, however, to spray any suitable foil-forming material on the first sheet 1 l to form a second sheet 12.

In order to conveniently permit temporary attachment to the X-ray film (not shown), the second sheet 12 may be rimmed with an adhesive 13. Generally, the adhesive 13 will be of the pressure sensitive variety thereby eliminating the need to wet or otherwise activate the adhesive 13. If the adhesive 13 used is of the pressure-sensitive type, then it will be necessary to utilize a peel-off backing material 15 to prevent the adhesive from attaching itself to any other surface until such adhesion is desired by the user of the present invention.

Referring now also to FIG. 2, it should be noted that in some cases it may be desirable to bond the first and second sheets 11 and 12 together only along some small portion thereof to permit greater lateral expansion of the deformable second sheet 12 during the embossing process. Such greater lateral expansion produces a larger, reduced-in-thickness area 16 defining the alpha-numeric character surrounded by a border 17 which is actually and effectively thicker than the original thickness 18 of the undeformed lead sheet, namely, sheet 12. This characteristic is due to the fact thatthe lead sheet 12 is not restricted in its spreading movement during the embossing process by virtue of its being bonded to the first sheet of material 11.

Another equally important advantage, as clearly illustrated in FIG. 4, is that in the event that the sheets II, 12 and 15 are bonded together along one edge 19 to form a hinge 20, the sheets I 1 and 12 may be moved towards and away from each other to permit easy access to each sheet for inspection and/ or correction and to allow relative freedom of movement therebetween for the purposes described hereinbefore.

Additionally, the hinge line 21 will normally be perforated to permit the sheets to be easily detached from each other following the impressing of data thereon prior to use with the X-ray film. This is desirable because the first sheet 11 is suitable for use as a file-history copy, the second sheet 12 is utilized in combination with the film and the last sheet 15 is the peel-off backing which is utilized to prevent the second sheet 12 from being prematurely activated and bonded to another surface when the adhesive means 13 is exposed.

Turning now to FIGS. 3 and 5, another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. With specific attention to FIG. 5, the present invention is embodied in the form of a card film assembly generally indicated at 22. Typically, rapid access to medical information re garding a particular patient or the use of medical equipment, such as an X-ray machine, is provided by means of a card 23, typically measuring 3 inches by 5 inches. Information may be recorded on this card 23 by handwriting the information onto the card 23 or, as is fre' quently the case, by typewriting it thereon.

In FIG. 3, the first sheet 24, which a relatively thin sheet of material, typically paper, is provided for protecting the second sheet 25 of easily deformable, rela tively X-ray opaque material to which adhesive means 26 is secured. Disposed beneath the second sheet 25 is a third sheet 27 composed of a pressure-activated transfer medium which when activated will deposit a layer of material onto the fourth sheet 29 of material which also has a pressure-activated transfer medium therebeneath. Typically, the card 23 to be filed as a record, is disposed beneath the fourth sheet 29 and the deposited layer of material obtained from the pressureactivated transfer medium on the fourth sheet 29 on the card 23 will be in correspondence with the written or typewritten data which was applied to the first sheet 24.

Following the inputting of the data on this card file assembly 22, the tab 28, connected to the fourth sheet 29 which is being secured to the card 23 by adhesive means 32, is manually peeled away from the card 23 along with the fourth sheet 29. The strip 30 comprising the balance of the tab assembly, generally indicated at 31, is now composed of the first, second, third, fourth sheets, respectfully identified as 24, 25 and 29.

To apply the sheet 25 to the radiographic film prior to its exposure to X-rays, the tab assembly 31 may be adhesively attached by adhesive means 32 or the tab 28 may be gripped and manually pulled so that the third sheet 27 and fourth sheet 29 are peeled from the strip 30 to expose the adhesive means 26 on the underside of the second sheet 25 and, thereafterwards, the adhesive means 26 is activated and the second sheet 25 bonded to the radiographic film.

While several examples of this invention have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes may be made without departing from this invention in its broader aspects; the appended claims therefore are intended to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A radiographic record and film identification assembly, comprising:

a. a first sheet of material for receiving deformation pressure to record data thereon and for transmitting deformation pressure therethrough:

b. a second sheet of material deformable under pressure and partially opaque to X-radiation, said sec ond sheet of material disposed beneath said first sheet of material in juxtaposition thereto for receiving the deformation pressure transmitted through said first sheet of material and for transmitting deformation pressure therethrough;

0. means for securing said first sheet to said second sheet;

(1. adhesive means secured to said second sheet to provide a means for securing said second sheet to a surface;

e. a third sheet of material secured to said second sheet, said third sheet of material further including a transfer medium thereon, said transfer medium being capable of being activated by means of deformation pressure received from said second sheet by said third sheet of material from said second sheet of material.

2. The combination of claim 1, further comprising: means disposed beneath said transfer medium for receiving said marking substance from said transfer medium when said transfer medium is activated by deformation pressure received from said third sheet of material from said second sheet of material.

3. The combination of claim 2, wherein said means disposed beneath said transfer medium for receiving said marking substance from said transfer medium when said transfer medium is activated by deformation pressure received from said third sheet of material from said second sheet of material, further includes means for transmitting said deformation pressure therethrough.

4. The combination of claim 3, further comprising:

a. a fourth sheet of material disposed beneath said means for receiving said marking substance from said transfer medium when said transfer medium is activated by deformation pressure received from said third sheet of material from said second sheet of material in abutting relationship thereto, said fourth sheet of material including a deformation pressure-activated transfer medium therebeneath, said transfer medium being capable of being acti vated by means of deformation pressure received from said means for receiving said marking substance from said transfer medium from said third sheet of material so as to deposit a marking substance on a surface disposed immediately therebeneath; and

b. a fifth sheet of material disposed immediately beneath said fourth sheet of material for receiving said marking substance therefrom.

5. The combination of claim 1, wherein said first sheet of material is roughened plastic capable of being easily marked on.

6. The combination of claim 1, wherein said second sheet is formed of lead having a thickness of from one to two thousandths of an inch.

7. The combination of claim 1, wherein said first sheet prevents cutting of said second sheet when said deformation pressure is received thereby. 

1. A radiographic record and film identification assembly, comprising: a. a first sheet of material for receiving deformation pressure to record data thereon and for transmitting deformation pressure therethrough: b. a second sheet of material deformable under pressure and partially opaque to X-radiation, said second sheet of material disposed beneath said first sheet of material in juxtaposition thereto for receiving the deformation pressure transmitted through said first sheet of material and for transmitting deformation pressure therethrough; c. means for securing said first sheet to said second sheet; d. adhesive means secured to said second sheet to provide a means for securing said second sheet to a surface; e. a third sheet of material secured to said second sheet, said third sheet of material further including a transfer medium thereon, said transfer medium being capable of being activated by means of deformation pressure received from said second sheet by said third sheet of material from said second sheet of material.
 2. The combination of claim 1, further comprising: means disposed beneath said transfer medium for receiving said marking substance from said transfer medium when said transfer medium is activated by deformation pressure received from said third sheet of material from said second sheet of material.
 3. The combination of claim 2, wherein said means disposed beneath said transfer medium for receiving said marking substance from said transfer medium when said transfer medium is activated by deformation pressure received from said third sheet of material from said second sheet of material, further includes means for transmitting said deformation pressure therethrough.
 4. The combination of claim 3, further comprising: a. a fourth sheet of material disposed beneath said means for receiving said marking substance from said transfer medium when said transfer medium is activated by deformation pressure received from said third sheet of material from said second sheet of material in abutting relationship thereto, said fourth sheet of material including a deformation pressure-activated transfer medium therebeneath, said transfer medium being capable of being activated by means of deformation pressure received from said means for receiving said marking substance from said transfer medium from said third sheet of material so as to deposit a marking substance on a surface disposed immediately therebeneath; and b. a fifth sheet of material disposed immediately beneath said fourth sheet of material for receiving said marking substance therefrom.
 5. The combination of claim 1, wherein said first sheet of material is roughened plastic capable of being easily marked on.
 6. The combination of claim 1, wherein said second sheet is formed of lead having a thickness of from one to two thousandths of an inch.
 7. The combination of claim 1, wherein said first sheet prevents cutting of said second sheet when said deformation pressure is received thereby. 